It seems like talent shows are popping up every time I turn on the TV lately. As a musician I shouldn't really be promoting them as I feel there's a lot of negatives associated with talent competitions on shows like American Idol and Pop Idol. After all - shouldn't the record industry be taking more time out for musicians and bands who actually write and perform their own music as a living? There's more that I could get into here, but that's not the purpose of this entry. As with the bad, there is often good, and Saturday night I watched a performance on the UK based talent show X Factor that blew me away.
Ben Mills is one of the last three remaining acts on the X Factor and his latest performance was one of the most amazing covers of Queen's "Somebody to Love" that I've ever heard. He, unlike most on the show, took a chance and decided to sing his version of the song acapella along with a choir. I really hope that this is released as a single - but I doubt that will happen as this rendition doesn't comply with the norm of today's typical pop song. Anyway, hopefully Brian May has heard this - I think he would approve.
Luckily the video of Ben Mills' performance is on YouTube.
Watch Ben Mills performing Queen's "Somebody To Love"
Personally, I don't think the judges - Simon Cowell, Sharon Osborne or Louis Walsh give him enough credit for this amazing performance.
By: Jenny May
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Hey, I utterly agree about Ben Mills. His performance of Queen's Somebody to Love was completely authentic as an interpretation. Energy, life, commitment. He seems like a real musician, doesn't he? I'm looking forward to when this competition thing is over and we can find out what he does for himself, beyond the evil clutches of tv.
You couldn't be more right, Jenny. Like you, I don't normally appreciate this kind of show, but this chap - Ben Mills - is an absolute revelation. It's odd, isn't it, that you can find REAL music and REAL musicians in such a context.
It was a shame he was voted off before the final show, but hopefully we'll be hearing more from Ben Mills and his soulful voice!
xJenny
It may be a blessing for him that he was voted off, Jenny. At least he won't necessarily be signed by Simon Cowell. So he may have more freedom.
On the show not all of the songs he was required to sing were as exhilarating or original as 'Somebody to Love', which was his own choice and arrangement. But that's great, that a show like this has thrown up a new singer-songwriter whose choices you can trust!! Like you, I love his soulful voice.
Hi Minty,
Well - if his career launches successfully, then in hindsite I'll most likely agree with you! Hopefully that will be the case. It would be good to hear a voice like his in the charts.
Not too many contestants on a show like that could arrange a song in the way that he did.
xJenny
Jenny,
I thought that Ben's Queen rendition was one of the best musical performances - professional or otherwise - on national TV. It just blew me away and for me, of all the contestants on the show, Ben really took risks every week. He tried everything - from rocking up an ABBA song (which was actually quite good) to a cheesy Aerosmith wind-in-your-face ballad (which was not his finest moment) to a fabulous piano performance of 'Smile' (just magical) - and he really showed a great deal more versatility than most of the wannabes on the show. I am sure he has a fantastic career ahead of him and I have said this before on forums, the character of his fans demonstrate again how talented he is and how starved the music world currently is of true musicians like Ben.
Btw, pop over to the website http://www.benmillsonline.co.uk (currently experiencing problems but I'm sure it will be sorted soon) where all of us are chatting.
Cheers.
Oh that is so brilliant-it must be brought out as a single, Ben is such a star!
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